


False Starts

by P_ThatsMe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Incomplete works, One Shot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24700069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P_ThatsMe/pseuds/P_ThatsMe
Summary: This is a collection of the first chapters of a bunch of stories I started writing. None of them really went anywhere, but some of them aren't too bad.





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> None of these are going anywhere, but if you're interested in any of the ideas, lmk.

It had started as a rumor. Just something whispered as speculation around card tables or over tea. There had been no evidence apart from the oddity of two young girls moving into a new town alone. No family, friends, or vague acquaintances. Then there was their odd way of dressing and the fact that they owned two cats. Add to this their striking good looks, and the whole town had collectively decided that those two women were definitely witches. It seemed ridiculous to some of the more sceptical residences of the small country town of Ogbourne St Andrew. And Draco was one of those skeptics. He had never seen them at Hogwarts, though they had English accents, and their house lacked the feel of magic that usually surrounded magical buildings. And most of all, in the few exchanges he had had with them while working, he had peppered in some magical terms, and had got confused looks back. No, Draco was sure that they were not magic.

So why were they standing in front of him, In front of the Hogwarts Express, clearly on their way to Hogwarts. It consumed Draco’s mind completely, and only after a solid hour of silently thinking did he decide to confront them.

They were not hard to find. Many students were peering into their compartment, whispering, and pointing at them. Pushing past them all Draco opened the door to the compartment, making the two girls start.

“Who the fuck are you?” One of the girls asked. She had short hair. Boyishly short, Draco thought. Not that it looked bad. It suited her sharper features

“Who the fuck are  _ you _ ?” Draco shot back

“I asked you first.”

“Well, I asked you second.”

The second girl turned away from the other two. Her dark curly hair began to move oddly around her face, and Draco realized that she had begun to giggle.

“I shouldn’t have told you about that. I always regret giving you these little heads-ups. Honestly, you’d think I would have learned by now.” With what looked like a struggle, the second girl lifted her eyes to Draco’s. “I’m Heather Metcalfe. This,” Heather pointed at the other girl, “is Amy Ramirez. Now, who are you?”

“I’m Draco.” He said plainly, more than a little taken back at the polite response. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you I guess.”

“Oh please, Draco. We know that we’ve already met. We spent the summer in Ogbourne St Andrew, where you served us at that cafe a few times. I’m also assuming you live there. Odd place for someone like you to live. A non magical town. Interesting.” It had been Amy who spoke, though she instantly looked embarrassed. She knew she’d misspoken, though she was unsure if she’d said too much, or just been generally rude.

“I don’t live there, not really.” Draco sat across from them. “It’s the closest town to my family home. I was made to work near muggles over the summer. Damn Ministry of Magic. Like doing that and making me come back to repeat my final year at school is going to make people forget what I did.” He looked away. Now he had misspoken. Silence fell. After a pause Heather restarted their discussion. They talked about the town they had stayed in, about their summers, and, when Amy’s curiosity could be restrained no more, about Hogwarts. Draco found that they had been independently taught, explaining why he had not seen them before June, but that they had been extended an invitation to study at Hogwarts for their final year.

“So what House do you guys want to be in?” Draco asked, when topics were running thin. “I’m in Slytherin. Probably the only Slytherin from my year that came back. None of my old friends did.”

“Dang. That sucks. Sorry dude.” Said Amy. “Also, how would we know what house we want to be in. We don’t know anything about them.” At that Draco and Heather began to laugh.

“True, true. Okay, I’ll describe them, and you guys can choose.” Draco said, "Slytherin, in my personal opinion, is the best of the Houses. We value ambition, cunning, resourcefulness, stuff like that. We look out for our friends, but we know to look out for number one. We have a bad rep for being mostly purebloods, and all bad people. Some people happen to fit that role,” He coughed, and looked away. “And some don’t.”

“That sounds like me.” Amy said, turning to Heather, “Don’t you think?”

“I suppose,” Heather nodded, “But i’d like to hear about the rest of them before I start making decisions.”

“Why don’t I just give you the general ideas? Here, Slytherins are cunning, Gryffindors are brave, Ravenclaws are smart, and Hufflepuff is everyone else. There.” Draco’s mood had turned sour. Heather supposed it had something to do with what he’d said of his house.

“Well, Ravenclaw sounds like my kind of place.” Heather said, smiling at Draco “And I’m sure that you don’t fit the stereotype.” Draco looked at his feet. He couldn’t look in their eyes. He couldn’t show what he felt in that statement. He couldn’t betray the sad smile that clearly showed that, at least in his opinion, he did indeed fit his description.


	2. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's pretty short. It really wasn't getting off the ground.

The light was blinding as it shone through Mina’s bedroom window and into her eyes. She looked at her alarm clock. It was only 8:15. The damn Sun had woken her up again. It was such a pain that she kept waking up early, despite the fact that it was the summer holidays. Theoretically she could sleep in as long as she wanted, but her mother would have woken her up anyway.

Mina lay in bed, waiting for something she knew wouldn't happen. It was July 24th and it was her birthday. However she knew she wouldn't get many gifts, if any at all. Her mother cared and would have gotten Mina anything she wanted, but her job didn't pay much. So Mina had insisted on not getting any gifts. There were better things the money could be spent on, like their rent or food for the week. Still she knew that her mother would have gotten her something, just a small trinket, but more than necessary.

After about five minutes it occurred to Mina that she would have to get up eventually. As she left her bed she saw a small parcel on her bedside table, underneath which was a note. Picking it up she found that it was surprisingly heavy for its tiny size. She then read the note, which explained that her mother couldn't get the day off work to celebrate with her, but that she would be back in the evening with what was only described as 'a surprise’. But as she reached out her hand to open her gift, the doorbell rang. Rushing to answer, she found that it was just the mailman. He explained that he had special instructions to hand deliver a particular letter. Curious, Mina rushed to put on some pants, ran downstairs, and collected the mail.

Walking back upstairs, Mina flipped through the mail, searching for her name on any of the letters.


End file.
